Unbridled Enthusiasm: Alberni Valley horse wanders into living room

September 25th, 2018updated

WATCH A fire department west of Port Alberni got one of the strangest calls it's ever received on Monday. It was a 911 call about a horse standing in the caller's living room. The horse's owner couldn't believe the animal walked into the home and up the stairs. She was worried about how to get the horse safely out. Kendall Hanson reports.

At three-and-a-half months old, Happy the quarter horse is young and inquisitive but she recently left her owner speechless.
“I’ve had horses for 55 years and I’ve never seen a horse do that,” said Terry Galloway, Happy’s owner.
On Monday, Galloway left the back door open at her Great Central Lake home and Happy, who was grazing nearby, saw an opportunity.
“I saw her coming and I tried to stop her and I just didn’t have time,” said Galloway. “She was up those stairs in less than two seconds. One step at a time perfect and then she just sat in the living room hanging out with the same calmness that she had walking up the stairs.”
Worried about what could happen, Galloway called 911.

“I have a horse in the living room and we can’t get her out because we were scared for her to go back down the stairs because she could break a leg,” said Galloway.
Firefighters from the Sproat Lake Fire Department soon arrived. They were able to put two slings around Happy and guide her out.
“And then they helped her down the stairs so that she didn’t go too fast and when she slipped, they just held her girth up a bit,” said Galloway.
“It was very good what they did they were very nice.”
The whole rescue took about 30 minutes. Galloway says Happy stayed calm the whole time, which shows just how special of a horse she is.
Now that Happy is back outside Galloway says she and her friend will be careful now about leaving the back door open as Happy has once again proved that horses are predictably unpredictable.